


We Never Leave A Man Behind

by BradyGirl_12



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU, DCU - Comicverse, Green Arrow, Justice League of America (Comics), Superman (Comics), Superman/Batman (Comics), Wonder Woman (Comics), World's Finest (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Blood, Canon Het Relationship, Challenge Response, Claims Table, Drama, Established Relationship, F/M, Green Kryptonite, Het, Het and Slash, Hurt/Comfort, Justice League of America - Freeform, M/M, Male Slash, Prompt Fic, Slash, Violence, War, World's Finest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-05
Updated: 2012-03-05
Packaged: 2017-11-01 12:33:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/356830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BradyGirl_12/pseuds/BradyGirl_12
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On an alien planet at war, the JLA suffers retreat…and an important casualty.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Retreat

**Author's Note:**

> Claim: For the [DCU_Freeforall](http://dcu_freeforall.livejournal.com) Challenge [(Clark/Bruce)](http://bradygirl-12.livejournal.com/415630.html)  
> Prompt: T 14: P 27: We Never Leave A Man Behind  
> Prompt Count: (12/15)  
> Warnings: Aftermath of battlefield violence  
> Original LJ Dates Of Completion: September 4, 10, 2009  
> Original LJ Dates Of Posting: January 21, 25, 2010  
> Disclaimer: I don’t own ‘em, DC does, more’s the pity.  
> Original LJ Word Count: 1041+ 1292 (Total: 2333)  
> Feedback welcome and appreciated.  
> Written in honor of the U.S. Army soldiers, Marines, and their Allies, who fought during the Battle of Chosin, Korea, November 27-December 13, 1950.  
> All chapters can be found [](http://bradygirl-12.livejournal.com/13235.html)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce searches for Clark on the battlefield.

_To call retreat  
Is to call defeat,  
Unless  
Discretion  
Is the better part  
Of valor._

  


**Sapphire Stagg  
"The Korean Winter  
Of My Soul"  
2003 C.E.**

Bruce was angry.

The JLA mission was an unmitigated disaster. The Battle of Chosin on the planet of Koree had started out well enough, the Southerners making a major incursion into the black hill country to push back the Northern attack.

Then the Northerners had counter-attacked.

The Southerners had been surrounded and cut off, the JLA part of the troops caught in the trap.

Black Canary, Green Arrow, Wonder Woman and Batman had found themselves fighting desperately to keep themselves and the native troops alive.

Superman had been recovering from Kryptonite poisoning, a result of the first battle the JLA had taken part in. He had insisted on coming with them on the Chosin expedition, below par but still formidable. The planet’s yellow sun was blocked by a dark miasma, fall-out from a nuclear explosion half-a-world away.

Now Clark was missing. 

His colleagues and their allies were retreating, barely fending off the ferocious Northern attack.

“Where are you, Clark?” muttered Bruce under his breath.

Wonder Woman parried a hail of bullets with her bracelets. Green Arrow and Black canary fought savagely, Batman lobbing explosives from his utility belt.

They were covering the Southern retreat admirably, the soldiers running for their lives, leaving their wounded behind. Gritting his teeth, Batman shouted for help for the fallen, ignored as the retreat continued pell-mell. The enemy skewered any fallen as they inexorably advanced.

The numbers were overwhelming the JLA heroes, who began their own retreat.

As Batman saved one fallen from disembowlment, he saw green glittering rocks embedded in the hilt of an officer’s sword.

The Dark Knight cursed, cape fluttering as he swung up to the rocks. His colleagues followed.

& & & & & &

They spread out, searching among the dead and butchered for their missing comrade. Batman had tersely relayed the information on the sword.

They were looking for a probably-wounded Superman.

Batman’s visage was grim as he searched, clamping down on emotions as he saw mutilated bodies up close. The smell of decay mixed with smoke borne on the wind, the temperature dropping rapidly. Snow began to fall, covering the bodies and rocky ground.

_Clark, where **are** you?_

Bruce felt his stomach clench as he thought of his lover hurt, maybe dying. Was he lying amongst these bodies, gasping for breath? Staring up at an alien sky? Earth’s sky was the one he knew best, the one he called home with either sun or stars.

_Careful, Bruce. You’re getting poetic in your old age._

But Clark brought that out of him, the sense of poetry that life could give, because while Clark knew better than most the darkness that life could offer, he also knew its beauty and brightness, gently reminding Bruce that not all was darkness and despair.

Bruce had to cling to that brightness while wearing the cowl, surrounded by death and despair, his own heart aching.

He continued the search, driven and desperate under the grim visage.

As the snow fell heavier and the skies grew darker, the Batman continued to search among the dead.

& & & & & &

At his nadir, Bruce found Clark.

Joy turned to terror to relief. The body half-covered with snow was stiff and blood-smeared, a faint green glow around the edges of two nasty stab wounds.

Bruce immediately checked for a pulse, a gust of wind blowing Bruce’s cape in a fanned-out pattern.

He saw a shack nearly hidden in the hillside. He tugged on Superman’s cape, parts of it frozen to the ground. He finally got it free and took Clark into his arms, carrying him as quickly as he could over the frost-hardened ground. He kicked in the wooden door and laid Clark gently on a rickety bed.

Bruce pushed back his cowl, activating his JLA communicator but there was nothing but static. He studied Clark’s wounds. There were sprinklings of green dust in the slices, and Bruce grabbed a battered pot, going outside to scoop snow into it. He lit a fire with a miniature blowtorch from his belt to the wood in the stove, melting the snow.

He irrigated the wounds, glad that Clark wasn’t awake to feel the pain. When he finished cleaning the wounds, he dressed them with bandages from his utility belt.

He checked outside but didn’t see the enemy or his friends. He shut the door and returned to the bed.

“Clark?”

Clark coughed as he came awake, confusion and pain in his eyes.

“Br…Bruce?”

“Right here.” Bruce grasped Clark’s hand, using his other hand to rest on his lover’s brow. “You feel a little feverish.” 

“I do feel a little hot.”

“Do you remember what happened?”

Clark frowned. “I was going up against one of the Northern officers and he cut me with a sword. I don’t remember anything after that.”

“Probably just as well.”

“Where are we?”

“Some shack in the hillside.” Bruce tightened his grasp. “We’re probably surrounded by the enemy.”

Clark grimaced. “What about Ollie, Dinah, and Diana?”

“Out searching for you.”

“Our communicators…?”

“…aren’t working, but I’ll try again. It might have cleared up.” He tried. “Still static.”

& & & & & &

Bruce kept watch for enemy troops. He wrapped his cape closer around his body, wishing there was a window to watch from instead of keeping the door partially open. The snow had built up at least a foot, drifts piled up and stretching below into the valley.

He let the fire in the stove go out. Smoke would attract attention of the unwanted variety. He’d taken a risk before.

A small sound turned his head around. “Oh, Clark,” he said softly. He shut the door and hurried over to the bed, nearly slipping on the frost-rimed floor.

Clarks’ teeth were chattering while he shook with chills. Bruce quickly climbed into bed, wrapping his body around his lover, trying to stop his own chills.

“S…Sorry,” Clark chattered.

“It’s okay.” Bruce rubbed Clark’s arms and chest. “Try and get some sleep.”

Bruce drew Clark close and huddled against him in the cold shack as darkness fell.


	2. Like A Wraith In The Wind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The small band of JLA heroes struggle to get to safety behind Allied lines.

_Like a wraith  
In the wind,  
He disappears,  
Only to return  
As I knew  
He would._

  


**Sapphire Stagg  
"The Korean Winter   
Of My Soul"   
2003 C.E.**

Bruce awoke, stiff from cold. Clark’s body warmth had helped, but this cold was bone-chilling. He checked Clark, who was asleep but not blue-lipped anymore.

The cold was incredible. It reminded him of the Himalayas.

“Oh, Clark, we’re in a bit of a mess,” he murmured.

“I know.”

Bruce was startled, then smiled. He nuzzled Clark’s neck.

“Sorry conditions aren’t better.”

”I know.” Clark smiled. “But snuggling up with you is a nice perk.”

“Is that all I am to you? A perk?”

“A nice perk.”

Bruce laughed and Clark smiled, receiving a loving kiss. His last check had shown no troop movements at all, not even a small patrol, but he’d better check again.

“I’ll check around. I know the general direction we should go in.” Bruce slipped out of bed.

Clark started to sit up, gasping softly.

“Here now, lay back.” Bruce glided over and put a hand on Clark’s chest. “You’re still weak, and there’s definitely no sun out there.”

Clark rested his head back on the pillow.

Bruce gave him some chocolate bars, scooping up the clean snow from right outside the door for drinking water. Bruce sat next to Clark in bed, trying to relax.

“Let’s try the communicator again.” Bruce activated the instrument, both men smiling when Diana answered.

& & & & & &

Bruce and Clark tried to keep warm as they waited for their JLA colleagues, a soft knock on the door and Diana’s voice bringing Bruce off the bed.

Diana, Ollie, and Dinah hurried inside, all of them wearing bulky parkas and carrying two more. Bruce didn’t ask where they had gotten them. They were delighted to see Clark.

“We have to move fast,” Dinah said. “The Northern troops are starting to make a push. I figure if we can get through the Valley of Death, we might make it.”

“Clark can’t walk,” Bruce said as he wolfed down some energy bars that Ollie had given him.

“I can carry him.” Diana examined Clark’s wounds. “Good work, Bruce.”

“Let’s saddle up!” Ollie urged.

Very quickly they left the shack, Diana carrying Clark, Bruce on point as Ollie and Dinah surrounded Diana and Clark.

Bruce wanted to stay close to Clark, but Batman understood the necessity of battlefield precision. He clamped down on his emotions as they passed over a sea of dead bodies, or pieces of them.

He could see Clark’s face peeking out from the Superman façade, pained at so many dead. Wonder Woman was cool, as befit a Warrior, and grim expressions were on the faces of Black Canary and Green Arrow.

It wasn’t snowing but still bitterly cold, the wind blowing as it cut through even the parkas.

The first day was tense, but all they saw was the dead.

They found a cave for the night, Bruce curling up around Clark, Diana on his other side. The Arrows kept the first watch, sitting cross-legged at the cave entrance, huddled against the wind.

Superheroes met disaster all the time, knowing that everything could turn on a dime. This mission was now one of survival, pure and simple.

& & & & & &

On the second day, by late morning, it began to snow again.

Batman cursed under his breath. Hadn’t they gone through enough?

An hour later, he saw an advance scouting patrol…from the enemy.

Batman was like a wraith in the wind, black cape swirling out in the snow. He communicated the news to his friends, wishing that Clark wasn’t so vulnerable. Still, he would be well-protected.

The Bat disappeared into the snow.

& & & & & &

The scouting patrol was distracted by odd noises and strange shadows. They headed up into the hills to investigate, veering off from the path that the Humans needed to take.

The small party struggled through the snow, Batman continuing the distractions.

As the snow reached blizzard proportions, Batman re-joined the others. He immediately went to Clark, who was worried about him.

“My Bat-wraith,” he said with a smile.

Batman cupped the side of the Kryptonian’s face, and Diana smiled.

“Diana, I could walk…”

“I will still carry you, my friend. It troubles me not, and you are still weak.”

Superman sighed but accepted the logic of the situation.

The snow swirled around, obscuring the little party.

& & & & & &

They pushed on, hour after hour, until they were close to exhaustion.

Batman saw the enemy troops approaching from the North. He swooped down and informed his friends.

“Should we find a cave?” Black Canary asked, shouting above the howling of the wind.

“Too many of them. They’ll have patrols all over the hills. We should try to distance ourselves.” 

The Arrows looked dubious, at the edge of collapse, and Batman could sympathize. He was feeling the burn of exhaustion in his own muscles.

“Diana, let me down,” Superman said.

She complied, a look of understanding passing between them.

“I will keep my eye on them. If we need a distraction, I will provide it.”

Wonder Woman ran through the snow toward the enemy.

“We have to keep pushing on,” Batman said. “She can buy us time.” He grabbed a swaying Superman. “She’s the best Warrior of us all.” He helped his lover struggle through the snowdrifts.

& & & & & &

Wonder Woman’s boots cut through the snow, her powerful legs carrying her closer to the enemy.

Her Warrior blood called to her. Tracking an enemy required subtlety, and she was good at it.

She would make sure that her friends would be protected. With Clark still recovering from Green Kryptonite poisoning and no sun to soak up, she was the most powerful member of the group now.

The enemy troops were getting closer despite the weather. She weighed whether or not to create a distraction but decided against it for the moment. If they could get out of this without more bloodshed, she would be happy.

She wrapped the parka tighter around her. She would have preferred Steve’s arms around her, but she would enjoy his warmth soon enough. She had no intention of staying on this accursed planet longer than necessary.

& & & & & &

Clark fell to his knees, lines of pain and exhaustion around his mouth and eyes. His limbs were trembling, Bruce falling beside him.

“I know it’s hard, Clark,” he said, trying to stop his teeth from chattering.

Dinah and Ollie huddled together.

“How much farther?” Clark asked, shivering.

“I’m not sure. We don’t know how far our lines have been pushed back.”

Clark glanced around. “Reminds me of the Arctic.”

“Pity there isn’t your Fortress around, too.”

Clark laughed, grabbing his ribs. Bruce’s arm was strong around his waist.

“Diana?” Clark asked worriedly.

“You know our Amazon. She’ll be fine.”

Clark smiled.

& & & & & &

Wonder Woman appeared out of the swirling snow.

“Let us push onward, my friends!”

“The enemy?” Ollie asked.

“Sent away.”

Diana’s friends grinned.

& & & & & &

When they reached their own lines, everyone was on the brink of exhaustion, even Diana. They stumbled into the war-torn town, soldiers hurrying to help bring them to the medical tent. Each one was treated, and Clark rested in one of the beds, Bruce sitting beside him.

“Bruce?”

“Hmm?”

“Thanks for looking for me.”

Bruce’s mouth quirked into a smile as he grasped his lover’s hand.

“We’re like the Marines, Clark. We never leave a man behind.”

He leaned down and kissed a smiling Clark.


End file.
